


A Party

by quicksparrows



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-27 06:50:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8391463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksparrows/pseuds/quicksparrows
Summary: Leo leaves the Halloween party early, and so does Niles.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miyukitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyukitty/gifts).



> A FEF Halloween exchange fill :)

.

 

 

"Leaving already?"

Leo glances back to see Niles standing behind him, having apparently followed him the length of the ballroom. 

Leo shrugs, gives his best noncommittal look: "I've been to so many of these things."

"You're too young for that kind of thinking," Niles says, and it's with that sly drop to his voice. Leo knows what he's thinking: he's nineteen. He _should_ be too young to slip out of a party before midnight, leaving behind the crowds just as the party finds its stride.

Too bad these things have always left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Don't worry about me," Leo says, dryly. "You're still young enough for this kind of thinking though, aren't you? Go back to the party, have your fun. I'm just going to turn in for the night."

Niles pauses. He looks genuinely torn for a moment, and the party goes on behind him; music, dancing, food and drink. Leo's sure the scene behind him –– a long, lonely corridor of Castle Krakenburg –– is far less appealing. Niles even gives the party another look, but Leo knows what his choice will be when that look is a deep one.

"Well," Niles says. "There's always going to be more parties."

Leo almost laughs.

"Of course. Nohr loves its parties."

Especially now that the war is over.

(That doesn't mean Leo likes them any more, though; he still feels the tension of his childhood, sitting in some immaculate costume while the adults exchanged intense looks with each other, watching the other children from across the room. Many little boys and girls would bury their faces in their mothers' skirts, watch carefully for an opening to interact, but they'd seldom come. Some parties those were.)

"Let's go, then," Niles says, smoothly. "You didn't even want to be here, hmm? Your costume is so boring."

That pries the chuckle from Leo.

"Boring?" he says. "Vampires are boring?"

Niles raises his eyebrows, and his smile widens.

"It's not much of a departure from your regular attire," Niles says, in this affected prim-and-proper tone. It's a joke. "Aside from the armor, that is. You can't say I didn't try to save you, though."

Leo snorts.

"And you're so interesting?" he says. He knows this is already wrong, because Niles is by far one of the most unusual people to have ever lived in Castle Krakenburg, but who cares: he'll rib Niles all he wants. "Most people would make a mummy costume that at least properly covers them."

Niles chuckles and gestures down at himself.

"At least I'm a real mummy! None of this bandages-sewn-to-clothing nonsense," he says. His voice drops lower, slyer: "A body is supposed to be wrapped from the nude."

Niles walks ahead, to lead the way from the party. As he does, Leo spies a spot where the bandages have slipped, exposing a sneaky inch of Niles's crack.

Leo laughs.

 

* * *

 

Niles bids him goodnight at the door to his quarters. Leo says the same in return, closes the door behind him, and then unfastens his cape. It has barely dropped to the floor when there's a knock at the door.

Leo opens it a crack.

"What?" he says.

Niles smiles and turns his back.

"I just realized I won't be able to get out of this alone," he says, gesturing to the various places where the bandages have been (confusingly) sewn shut. There are many. Leo wonders, in that instant, who had this dumb idea. (Probably Odin; _realistic mummy_ seems like something he'd wholeheartedly contribute to.) Niles adds: "Could you please cut these, so that I might undress when I get back to my quarters?"

"Why don't you just cut them?" Leo asks.

"That would be wasteful," he says.

"We can get you more, if you ever want to wear this again," Leo says, gesturing vaguely. He's not even sure why he's debating this; he knows he's just going to go to bed or read or sit around in relative silence and solitude, so what would moments more company hurt in the wake of a _party_?

"What if I want to walk back across the castle with my ribbons trailing all over the place?" Niles says. He is, Leo realizes, at least a tiny bit _drunk_. "Unstitch me! With every step, they'll unfurl a little more, and by time I'm back at my quarters, I won't have to undress at all."

Leo sighs.

"You're not walking across the castle naked," he says, pointedly.

"What am I to do, then?" Niles asks, pointedly.

Leo opens the door properly and sighs, _scowls_ , as if he is utterly inconvenienced. _To spare the maids some chaos_ , he tells himself.

"Come in," he says.

Niles smile is almost catlike, but Leo oddly doesn't mind –– Niles trails his fingers along Leo's side as he goes by, affectionate as ever, and when his fingers drop off, Leo even misses them.

 

* * *

 

Niles unfurls himself lazily –– with the threads cut, he rolls the bandages off one-by-one, exposing inches of skin. Leo watches when he's not busy with his own clothing, fingers moving numbly over waistcoat buttons and shirt buttons and trouser buttons. By time he drags on a pair of silk lounge pants and a loose shirt, Niles has most of his broad, scarred chest exposed and is continuing to unwrap his hips, down to his thighs.

"Did you really wear nothing under that?" Leo asks, dryly, even if he knows the answer. He flops back on his bed and Niles chuckles.

"What do you think?" he replies, as he drops another white ribbon. Nothing, indeed, just bandages from the knees down. "You know, it's very liberating. You might relax a little if you tried it."

"I'll pass," Leo says. "I'm plenty relaxed here."

Niles laughs. He crawls into bed next to Leo, leaving white ribbons trailing, and he doesn't stop crawling until he is practically overtop Leo. Leo sighs, and Niles mimics him, though not unkindly.

"Better here than a party?"

"Better here than a party," Leo agrees.

"What will we do with you, milord?" Niles wonders, as he flops over at Leo's side. His bare skin is warm, even though Leo's pajamas, and his weight sinks into the mattress in such a way that Leo ends up shoulder to shoulder with him. Niles stretches out.

"Terrible memories?" Niles wonders, again, a moment later.

"Some," Leo says. "You know, you didn't have to leave the party on my account. You could have stayed, drank some more, chatted up some naive young thing, gotten into trouble with the rest of them."

"I could have," Niles agrees, "but like you said, there are always more parties. And I think ––" he shifts again, rising up on an elbow and leaning over Leo once more. "–– You like my company. You wouldn't have let me in here otherwise."

Leo gives an amused noise, and he brushes his bangs from his face and sinks back a little deeper into his pillows. Niles leans right against his chest, fiddling with a button.

"You can admit it, you know," Niles purrs.

"I enjoy your company," Leo says, as if this is a particular drag to say, but his mouth cracks into a smile anyway. 

Niles leans so that they are nose-to-nose, and he just gently bumps Leo's nose with his own.

"I'm flattered," he says, grinning.

Leo kisses him, then, fingers raking through Niles' hair to clutch the back of his head, and Niles makes a little rumble of amusement against his mouth.

He _does_ enjoy Niles' company.

 

* * *

 

Odin has his hands on his hips and a great big smile on his face. (He also still has some make-up clinging to the dimples of his cheeks, and around his eyes.) He beams down at his master and fellow retainer.

"You missed the greatest part of the party," he says. "We got stupendously drunk, and Laslow lost the game and had to dance _pantsless_ through the party on a dare! I can't believe you missed it." Pause. "Niles! Where did _your_ pants go?"

Niles smiles, propping himself up on an elbow and raising a knee to _pose_. 

Leo just scowls and throws the sheets over Niles.

 


End file.
